Indigenous Environmental Studies

The Indigenous Environmental Studies Program is an innovative new program at Trent University. It is a collaboration between the Department of Indigenous Studies and the Environmental and Resource Science/Studies Program, and is designed to give students the necessary skills and knowledge to work in the growing field of Indigenous environmental issues.

The program is unique in Canada and brings together principles of both Indigenous knowledge and western science. Instruction in these two approaches will provide students with the necessary skills and critical thinking abilities that they can begin to use in addressing the complex environmental problems facing both Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities around the world today.

The foundation upon which the program and its courses are based inherently recognizes both the strengths and limitations of any single perspective when attempting to understand and address environmental and social issues. The skills obtained in the Indigenous Environmental Studies Program will support the training of creative and broad thinking individuals, well prepared to address a wide range of environmental and health issues.